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England clinch Bucharest GP title

Sun, 22 Sep 2013 17:54

England lifted a second successive European title after cruising to a 31-7 win against France in Sunday’s Bucharest Grand Prix Sevens Final.

Playmaker Dan Bibby’s two early tries put them 14-0 up at the break against their IRB Sevens World Series rivals France.

Christian Lewis-Pratt hacked clear for a third and Phil Burgess squeezed into the corner for a fourth that made it 26-0.

France responded through Julien Candelon but leading try-scorer Dan Norton dived in for the fifth to complete victory.

England won the Lyon GP title earlier this year, so their win in Romania secured the FIRA/AER European series crown in the final warm-up act before they kick-off the World Series in Australia next month.

England had swept through their Day One programme with wins against Wales (40-7), Portugal (26-14), Italy (19-0) and Romania (14-7).

Day Two started with a final pool match, a 17-7 win against Georgia with tries from Bibby, Lewis-Pratt and Michael Ellery.

Russia provided arguably the hardest test of the weekend and held them 14-14 at half-time in the semifinal after Burgess and Norton scored in the first half.

England were pegged back twice by two Denis Simplikevic efforts until Ellery and Bibby made sure.